Industry 4.0 from An Entrepreneurial Transformation and Financing Perspective
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. General Remarks
1.2. Nomenclature
1.3. Logic of the Sequence of Steps in This Paper
1.4. Radical Change in Management Systems
1.5. Professionalization through Transfer of Experience
2. Localization of the Digital–Informational Transformation within the Current Transformation Areas
3. On the Embedding of Industry 4.0
4. From Knowledge to Implementation
4.1. Political Assessment of the Current Situation
- 95% of companies see Industry 4.0 as an opportunity;
- 6 out of 10 companies already use Industry 4.0 applications;
- 91% of industrial companies see Industry 4.0 as a prerequisite for maintaining the competitiveness of German industry; and
- 75% of industrial companies believe that Industry 4.0 will reduce CO2 emissions [14].
4.2. Diagnoses from the Business World
(2019) “Companies tended to focus on steady evolution such as the gradual networking of machinery, a focus on cost reduction and on increasing efficiency—rather than on a disruptive revolution, for example, in the form of complete networking and the implementation of new business models.”[18]
(2020) “Although manufacturing companies recognize the importance of digitalization, there are only a few that have managed a successful digital transformation. Many companies stall in the pilot phase or struggle to achieve enterprise-wide scalability.”[19]
(2020) “digital transformation is still weak at four-fifths of companies in the German economy and is thus still in its infancy.”[20]
(2021) “Overall, the industries have become only slightly more digital compared to the previous year…. The strongest growth is recorded by tourism…. The strongest decline is recorded by the basic materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry group. Its index score drops from 100.6 to 94.5 points.”[21]
(2021) “German SMEs have so far made only slow progress with the digitalization of their business processes. Even the government-provided support programs have only been comprehensively used by around five percent of companies to date.”[22]
(2021) “Even in 2021, processes in small and medium-sized enterprises are still characterized by paper, makeshift solutions, distributed IT tools and a lot of manual intervention…. This means that companies not only give away competitive advantages, but sooner or later even jeopardize their own ability to survive and leave their employees intellectually drained”.[22]
5. Industrial Implementation
5.1. Definition and Basic Understanding: What Does “Industry 4.0” Entail—What Should It Encompass?
- Service chains, for example, from the supplier via production and assembly operations to the logistics provider.
- Competitive relationships: opposing in direct competition, cooperation in associations, committees and across organizations such as chambers of industry and commerce.
- Inclusion of service providers at every stage of the value chain and for all processes.
- Service providers and infrastructures for data and communications technology, data hosting and processing (such as cloud, fog and edge computing).
- Dissolution of boundaries between companies, which are increasingly acting as a combination of manufacturers and customers, so-called prosumers or Xsumers (Xsumer stands, for example, for consumers who step in as manufacturers when demand peaks, such as when electricity generators are switched on by the grid operator via photovoltaics), for example.
- Emergence of so-called digital ecosystems, where every emerging market niche in supply and demand is occupied in a short time, both by diversifications of existing players and by new entrants such as startups, stationary and online-based founders.
- Permanent, temporary and regional forms of entrepreneurial cooperation such as consortia, project companies, purchasing alliances—mostly without capital backing.
- Capital-backed forms of entrepreneurial mergers such as joint ventures.
- Forms of cooperation between business and the public sector, such as public–private partnerships (PPP).
5.2. Levers and Challenges to Digital–Informational Transformation
- Competition between different functions in companies causes superfluous investments in digital projects. In the period studied from 2017 to 2019, actual costs in DACH companies increased by 4.4 percent.
- The digital investments made by function leaders should increase the company’s revenue by 12.9 percent annually. In fact, annual revenue increased by an average of 4.2 percent from 2017 to 2019—only one-third of the expected revenue growth in DACH companies.
- According to three out of four DACH companies (74 percent), digital investments do not increase revenue growth [30].
6. Approaches to and Experience with Comprehensive Digital–Informational Transformations in Industry
6.1. Chances and Limits for the Reorganization of Entrepreneurial Leadership Models
6.2. Dissolution of Boundaries
6.3. Modeling Informational Transformation
- (I)
- Scope and Goals [39]
- Market today (customers, competitors, suppliers…).
- Drivers for change (technologies, behaviors, market definitions, new players, mergers, fundamental power shifts and changes in the environment, e.g., environment, energy, new evaluation criteria such as ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and new evaluation methods [40]).
- Extrapolations to a thus “dynamized” future scenario for the period in which the new corporate model is to be applied (i.e., determination of the period, e.g., time horizon 5–10 years, determination of the dynamizing factors with their size and insertion of the same in the calculation of the future scenario).
- Scenario-based determination of the forces and market positions of leading players in the future market.
- Derivation of the own forces and market positions to be achieved in the dynamized future scenario.
- (II)
- Business Plans
- (III)
- Action Plans
- (IV)
- Culture and Communication
- (V)
- Teams and Terms
- The more far-reaching the conversion, the more difficult it is.
- The more far-reaching the conversion, the higher the increase in value and the longer the positive prospects.
- Project types based on experience patterns and the more common ones have higher potential for success and involve lower risks.
- The more dissimilar the partners to be brought together, the more difficult and the higher the risk of a later rupture. (These are transferred results after evaluations at Siemens AG from strategy projects at the corporate level and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), for which the author had worldwide responsibility until 2008.)
- Add-on, e.g., startup
- Buying-in digital business
- Regional acquisition
- Developments ex IT competencies
- Crystallization centers
- Board and management levels
- Network organization
- Evaluation
7. Comparison: Empirical Values and Recommendation
- They make it clear to function holders what digital transformation means for the organization and why all functions should work together.
- They hold executives accountable for how well they collaborate across organizations in digital transformation projects.
- They prioritize projects that foster cross-functional collaboration.
- They invest in platforms that enable seamless collaboration and scale them rapidly. IT island solutions have become a thing of the past.
- They define clear rules for their information technology and operational processes and make transparent how the two mesh [41].
- Basic recommendations
- I.
- Appoint a board of management that acts as a coach at the top management level to drive the digital transformation forward and is responsible for its success.
- II.
- This person also acts as a top decision maker for organizational adjustments, with the aim of getting the most out of the relevant investments.
- III.
- Sustainability takes precedence over short-term effects.
- IV.
- Prioritize projects that promote cross-company collaboration: across organizational units, involving different functions, and along the entire value chain.
- V.
- The aim should be to harmonize the various technology platforms that are to be introduced and stored in the cloud.
- VI.
- To achieve optimal results, it is necessary to ensure that the various platform protagonists cooperate optimally by practicing close exchange.
- VII.
- Develop cross-activity standards for IT and operational governance.
- VIII.
- Their consistent application must always be checked and thus ensured in the long term.
8. Conclusions
“The traditional value chain is evolving toward hyper-personalized experiences, products and services, driven by innovative business models and new revenue streams.”[42]
9. Summary Results and Their Evaluation
- Compared to the technical–scientific knowledge of the digital–informational transformation, the practical knowledge of the implementation is far behind.
- The previous performance in the digital–informational transformation is not satisfactory on average.
- A systematic cross-company, industry-specific or region-specific transfer of experience is not recognizable.
- There are a number of generic models for corporate transformation towards Industry 4.0.
- Through individual or combined use, these allow a wide variety of models for the implementation of the above-mentioned transformation, which also correspond to the different requirements in terms of time and range.
- Basic experiences from comparably profound transformations are available and can be transferred to a certain extent to the digital–transformational transformation.
- The current data situation is unsatisfactory. In order to provide practice with scientific assistance in the implementation of the above-mentioned transformation, further research is recommended.
- This includes a statistically valid study of failures and success factors, ideally broken down by industry, type of company and region.
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Hürden für Fusionen. Available online: https://www.dasinvestment.com/huerden-fuer-fusionen/ (accessed on 3 March 2022).
- Kraft in der Krise. Available online: https://www.dasinvestment.com/kraft-in-der-krise/ (accessed on 3 March 2022).
- Neue Wege in der Krise. 2022. Available online: https://www.dasinvestment.com/neue-wege-in-der-krise/ (accessed on 3 March 2022).
- Lucks, K. Introductory lecture. In Proceedings of the 19th Corporate M&A Congress, Munich, Germany, 16 November 2021. [Google Scholar]
- Die Entgrenzung von M&A. Available online: https://www.tax-legal-excellence.com/die-entgrenzung-von-ma/ (accessed on 17 February 2022).
- Wie Fusionen Gelingen. Available online: https://www.dasinvestment.com/kai-lucks-uebernahmen-merger-bundesverband-mergers-und-acquisitions/ (accessed on 14 February 2022).
- Lucks, K. Forschung und Implementierung von Künstlicher Intelligenz zur Harmonisierung und Repositionierung Europas im globalen Wettbewerb. Digitale Welt Online-Magazin, 18 September 2020. [Google Scholar]
- Steffen, Andreas. Digitalisierung und Vernetzung der Verwaltung als Basis für ein daten- und dienstebasiertes Ökosystem. In Marktplätze im Umbruch: Digitale Strategien für Services im Mobilen Internet; Linnhoff-Popien, C., Zaddach, M., Grahl, A., Eds.; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2015; pp. 521–530. [Google Scholar]
- Lucks, K. Der Wettlauf um die Digitalisierung—Potenziale und Hürden in Industrie Gesellschaft und Verwaltung; Schaeffer-Poeschel: Stuttgart, Germany, 2020. [Google Scholar]
- Lucks, K.; (Bundesverband Mergers & Acquisitions e.V., Frankfurt, Germany; Peter Parycek Digital Advisory Council of the Federal Government, Germany). Personal communication, 2021.
- Lucks, K.; Meckl, R. Internationale Mergers & Acquisitions—Der prozessorientierte Ansatz, 2nd ed.; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2015. [Google Scholar]
- Lucks, K. M&A-Projekte erfolgreich führen—Instrumente und Best Practices; Schaeffer-Poeschel: Stuttgart, Germany, 2013. [Google Scholar]
- Lucks, K. M&A als Kunst oder Wissenschaft—Brückenfunktion von zeitgemäßem Wissensmanagement. CFO Aktuell Z. Für Financ. Control. 2013, 7, 129–131. [Google Scholar]
- Digitale Transformation in der Industrie. Available online: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Dossier/industrie-40.html (accessed on 10 February 2022).
- Aussetzung der Insolvenzantragsfrist endet zum 30. April 2021. Available online: https://www.hk24.de/produktmarken/start/coronavirus/aussetzung-insolvenzantragspflicht-4870698 (accessed on 17 February 2022).
- Insolvenzen in Deutschland, Jahr 2021. Available online: https://www.creditreform.de/aachen/aktuelles-wissen/pressemeldungen-fachbeitraege/news-details/show/insolvenzen-in-deutschland-jahr-2021 (accessed on 17 February 2022).
- Industrie 4.0 Strategien: Den Wandel Gestalten. Available online: https://www2.deloitte.com/de/de/pages/energy-and-resources/articles/industrie-40-strategien.html (accessed on 11 February 2022).
- Warum Sich Die Einführung von Industrie 4.0 bei vielen Unternehmen verzögert. Available online: https://www.handelsblatt.com/technik/it-internet/digitalisierung-warum-sich-die-einfuehrung-von-industrie-4-0-bei-vielen-unternehmen-verzoegert/25343886.html?ticket=ST-3319173-yRYjXNCMdA9ZXwmHwBym-ap6 (accessed on 29 January 2022).
- Studie: Atos und Forrester Consulting Untersuchen Herausforderungen für eine Erfolgreiche IoT-Einführung in der Fertigungsindustrie. Available online: https://atos.net/de/2020/news-de_2020_09_03/studie-atos-und-forrester-consulting-untersuchen-herausforderungen-fuer-eine-erfolgreiche-iot-einfuehrung-in-der-fertigungsindustrie (accessed on 18 February 2022).
- Wie Digital ist Deutschlands Wirtschaft? Available online: https://www.de.digital/DIGITAL/Navigation/DE/Lagebild/lagebild.html (accessed on 29 January 2022).
- Digitalisierungsindex. Available online: https://www.de.digital/DIGITAL/Navigation/DE/Lagebild/Digitalisierungsindex/digitalisierungsindex.html (accessed on 29 January 2022).
- Available online: https://firmen.handelsblatt.com/geschaeftsprozesse-digitalisieren.html (accessed on 19 April 2022).
- Lucks, K. Praxishandbuch Industrie 4.0—Branchen -Unternehmen—M&A; Schaeffer-Poeschel-Verlag: Stuttgart, Germany, 2017. [Google Scholar]
- Graning, P.; Hartlieb, E.; Heiden, B. Mit Innovationsmanagement zu Industrie 4.0; Springer Gabler: Wiesbaden, Germany, 2018. [Google Scholar]
- Huber, W. Industrie 4.0 kompakt—Wie Technologien unsere Wirtschaft und unsere Unternehmen verändern; Springer Vieweg: Wiesbaden, Germany, 2018. [Google Scholar]
- Blokdyk, G. Industry 4.0 A Complete Guide—2019 Edition; 5starcooks: Brendale, Australia, 2019. [Google Scholar]
- Reinhart, G. Handbuch Industrie 4.0; Hanser-Verlag: München, Germany, 2018. [Google Scholar]
- Lucks, K. Der Wettlauf um die Digitalisierung: Deutschland zerrieben zwischen USA und China? Rotary Magazin Deutschland. Available online: https://rotary.de/wirtschaft/der-wettlauf-um-die-digitalisierung-a-16261.html (accessed on 10 July 2020).
- Industrie 4.0—So Digital Sind Deutschlands Fabriken. Available online: https://www.bitkom.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/bitkom-charts-industrie-4.0-07-04-2021_final.pdf (accessed on 11 February 2022).
- Vereint zum Ziel—Warum Digitale Transformation Funktionsübergreifende Zusammenarbeit Braucht. Available online: https://www.accenture.com/de-de/insights/industry-x-0/cross-functional-collaboration (accessed on 11 February 2022).
- Digitalisierung—Hierarchien in Unternehmen verlieren an Bedeutung. Available online: https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2015/juni/digitalisierung-hierarchien-in-unternehmen-verlieren-an-bedeutung/ (accessed on 26 February 2022).
- Die Digitalisierung Erfordert Zunehmend Flache Hierarchien in Teams. Available online: https://kitoko-people.ch/die-digitalisierung-erfordert-zunehmend-flache-hierarchien-in-teams/ (accessed on 26 February 2022).
- Von der Hierarchie zum Netzwerk: Warum Digitalisierung neue Strukturen Braucht. Available online: https://www.tandemploy.com/de/knowledge-transfer/von-der-hierarchie-zum-netzwerk-warum-digitalisierung-neue-strukturen-braucht/ (accessed on 26 February 2022).
- Industrial Internet of Things. Available online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_internet_of_things (accessed on 26 February 2022).
- Industrie 4.0 und Supply Chain Management: Wie KI und Blockchain die Lieferkette Revolutionieren. Available online: https://www.sage.com/de-de/blog/industrie-4-0-und-supply-chain-management-fy21/ (accessed on 26 February 2022).
- Digitale Warenwirtschaftssysteme. Available online: https://www.hk24.de/produktmarken/digitalportal/online-marketing-vertrieb/ecommerce/digitale-warenwirtschaft-4319206 (accessed on 26 February 2022).
- Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz. Available online: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Gesetze/Wirtschaft/lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz.html (accessed on 30 March 2022).
- Picot, A. Available online: https://www.iom.bwl.uni-muenchen.de/personen/leitung/picot/index.html (accessed on 30 March 2022).
- Lucks, K. Die Organisation von M&A in internationalen Konzernen. Schweiz. Z. Für Betr. Forsch. Und Prax. 2002, 56, 197–213. [Google Scholar]
- Lucks, K. Digitale Transformation: Implikationen für das Controlling. Controller Magazin, January 2021; pp. 66–72. [Google Scholar]
- Kooperationen Zwischen Startups und Mittelstand. Available online: https://www.hiig.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Kooperationen_Startups_Mittelstand_small.pdf (accessed on 28 February 2022).
- Industry X. Available online: https://www.accenture.com/de-de/insights/industry-x-0-index?c=acn_glb_brandexpressiongoogle_12315426&n=psgs_0721&gclid=Cj0KCQiAr5iQBhCsARIsAPcwROOtRe5_qy90Suu8cDxy5XU1aRwXyOWNbl7Fr6QQTy5dThMyYqaWS5caAo-gEALw_wcB (accessed on 11 February 2022).
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2022 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Lucks, K. Industry 4.0 from An Entrepreneurial Transformation and Financing Perspective. Sci 2022, 4, 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/sci4040047
Lucks K. Industry 4.0 from An Entrepreneurial Transformation and Financing Perspective. Sci. 2022; 4(4):47. https://doi.org/10.3390/sci4040047
Chicago/Turabian StyleLucks, Kai. 2022. "Industry 4.0 from An Entrepreneurial Transformation and Financing Perspective" Sci 4, no. 4: 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/sci4040047